With the Waqf (properties) Act done and dusted, avaricious eyes are now being cast on Church properties. All properties in parishes are not church properties. There are institutions like schools, colleges, hospitals, 'homes' run by various religious orders, and not by the church. In most parishes we have a church and a school run by the church. Similarly we have Catholic hospitals like Holy Spirit, Holy Family, St Elizabeth's in Mumbai. They are all affiliated to the Archdiocese , but are run by different religious orders and they are not church properties. Nevertheless, the Catholic church, which ministers to a miniscule population of just 1.6% Catholics in India, has rendered yeoman service to the nation in the fields of education, healthcare and social services. And people of all religions acknowledge this with gratitude. Catholics have 14,000 schools with 8 million students, 27 lakh teachers and 420 colleges with 7 lakh students. Besides we have 1,086 training institutions, 5 medical and 1,826 hospitals and dispensaries and 6 universities. In addition we have innumerable 'homes' for the old, sick, lepers, destitutes, orphans etc ... and they are not church properties. But all of them are run in the service of the nation.
